Mat for free exercise or wrestling or the like



July 7, 1970 G. P. NISSEN FIG I July 7, 1970 s. P. NISSEN 3,518,707

MAT FOR FREE EXERCISE 0R WRESTLING OR THE LIhE Filed May 22, 1968 :3Sheets-Sheet .1

INVENTOR. GEORGE R NISSEN /AW Y. FM

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,518,707 MAT FOR FREE EXERCISE ORWRESTLING OR THE LIKE George P. Nissen, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, assignor toNissen Corporation, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, a corporation of Iowa Filed May22, 1968, Ser. No. 731,019 Int. Cl. A47g 9/00 US. Cl. 5344 8 ClaimsABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A lightweight mat for free exercise,wrestling or the like made up of sections of lightweight,shock-absorbing material which are held together as a unit by a coverand an interlacing method so that the mat can be quickly assembled anddisassembled by a single person.

Background of the invention Mats are commonly used as a floor coveringfor wrestling, free exercise and physical training generally so as toprovide a shock absorbing or resilient surface to protect the performer.To overcome the disadvantages of the heavy and cumbersome canvas,hair-filled mats formerly used, lightweight mats made up of sections oflightweight shock-absorbing material, such as polyethylene foam weredeveloped. The relatively small sections of this lightweight materialare typically taped, tied or otherwise joined together over which, inturn, is placed a large cover in order to provide a smooth top surfacefree of joints and crevices. The cover is stretched over the assembledsections and then taped to the gymnasium floor to hold the cover inposition. Such mats have obvious advantages over their heavy andcumbersome predecessors but require two or more persons for properassembly since the cover must be stretched very tightly over theassembled sections of resilient material. Taping or otherwise joiningthe lightweight sections together and taping of the cover to the flooris laborious and time-consuming. Often the tape pulls loose or damagesthe finish of the floor.

Summary of the invention The invention provides a novel means forlocking the lightweight sections of the mat together into a tightunitary structure without gaps or overlapping between the sections andat the same time stretching the cover tightly thereover. The novel meansfor locking the sections together and stretching the cover eliminatesthe use of tape for either purpose. Briefly, a rectangular network ofstrip material is laid out on the floor over which are laid thesectionsof foam. Lengths of tubing are then placed along the outer four edges ofthe assembled sections and the cover placed thereover. The ends of thestrip material are thereafter brought up around the tubing and passedthrough slits in the margin of the cover, being secured to D-ringsinboard of the slits. When the strips are pulled up tight, the sectionsof foam are locked tightly together and at the same time the cover isstretched tightly thereover. This novel means of assembly in locking thesections of the mat together is such that a single person can performboth the operations of assembly of the sections and stretching of themat cover. The assembly operation, as well as the disassembly, can bedone relatively rapidly.

Brief description of the drawings FIG. 1 is a perspective view of anassembled gymnasium mat with a portion of the cover and some of the3,518,707 Patented July 7, 1970 sections broken away to show the detailsof the locking means; and

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a portion of one edge of an assembled matshowing the details of the locking means.

Description of the preferred embodiment Referring now to the drawings,and particularly to FIG. 1, the mat is comprised basically of aplurality of generally rectangular shaped sections or blocks 10 laidside-by-side and end-to-end to form a resilient or shock absorbingsurface of the desired size. The blocks are each preferably of aresilient or shock absorbing material that is also lightweight, such aspolyethylene foam. One such material that is suitable and commonly usedis Ethafoam, a product of the Dow Chemical Company. The blocks 10 arecompletely covered by a suitable one piece covering 12, preferably ofcanvas or nylon fabric coated with a polyvinyl resin. As will bedescribed more fully hereinafter, the covering 12 serves both to holdthe blocks 10 tightly together and to provide a smooth unbrokenprotective surface over the blocks 10.

In order to hold the blocks 10 together with the covering 12 in aunitary structure, a series of relatively narrow, vinyl impregnatednylon fabric strips are laid on the floor in a grid pattern. A first setof such strips 14 are laid in parallel spaced-apart relationship acrossan area approximately the area to be covered by the mat when completelyassembled. Strips 14, however, are of a length somewhat longer than thedimension of the mat as finally assembled. With the strips 14 in place,a second set of strips 16 is laid crosswise or perpendicular to thestrips 14, with the strips 16 also in parallel spaced-apartrelationship. Again, the strips 16 cover an area of approximately thearea to be covered by the completely assembled mat except that the freeends of the strips 16 extend somewhat beyond that area. Preferably,strips 14 contain slits 18 at intervals spaced according to the desiredspacing of the strips 16. Thus, when the strips 16 are laid, they areinserted through the slits 18 so that the two sets of strips 14 and 16are interlaced.

After the grid formed by strips 14 and 16 has been laid, the blocks 10are laid side by side and end to end to form a mat of the desired size.The blocks 10 are laid closely together, and as previously indicated,the free ends of the strips 14 and 16 extend beyond the rectangularsurface formed by laying the blocks 10. With all of the blocks 10 inplace, lengths of tubing 20 are laid along the exposed edges of theblocks 10. The tubing is preferably of approximately the same diameteras the thickness of the blocks 10. It is obvious that, if desired, solidbar stock could be used in place of the tubing 20. Preferably,lightweight aluminum tubing is used because it is easier to handleparticularly for the large size mats. The tubing 20 is, of course, laidover the extended ends of the strips 14 and 16, and its ends need not bejoined, either along the sides of the mat or at its corners.

After the tubing 20 is in place along each of the four edges formed bythe assembled blocks 10, the covering 12 is placed over the blocks 10and tubing 20. As is best seen in FIG. 2, the covering 12 contains aplurality of slits 22 at a distance inwardly from each edge thereof, theslits being spaced at intervals corresponding to the spacing of thestrips 14 and 16. Also, the cover contains a D-ring clamp 24 ofwell-known design inwardly from each slit 22. As is well known, eachD-ring clamp 24 consists of two D-rings 26 whose straight sides aresecured to the covering by suitable fastening means such as a strip ofmaterial sewn to the covering 12.

After the covering 12 is in place, the person assembling the mat wrapseach strip 14 (or 16) around the tubing 20 at one edge of the mat,underneath the covering 12, through the slit 22 in the covering andfastens the free end of the strip to the D-ring clamp 24 in a well-knownmanner. When this has been completed along one edge of the mat, theperson assembling the mat then proceeds to an adjacent side and repeatsthe process. The assembler then proceeds to one of the sides opposite toa side where the strips have been secured to the covering 12 and againrepeats the process of wrapping the strips around the tubing 20, throughthe slits 22 and fastening them to the D-ring clamps 24. However, sincethe opposite edge is secured, the assembler will draw up the strips 14or 16 tightly so that the covering 12 is stretched smoothly and tightlyacross the blocks 10. With the three sides now secured, the assemblercan proceed to the last side and repeat the process of wrapping thestrips around the tubing 20, through the slits 22 and fastening them tothe D-ring clamps 24. Again, the assembler will draw the strips 14 or 16very tightly so that the covering is stretched smoothly and tightly overthe blocks 10.

The described means of locking the blocks together will assure that theblocks are drawn together snugly and the covering 12 stretched tightlyso that a smooth uninterrupted resilient shock absorbing mat isassembled. The tubing 20 provides a rigid edge that permits the blocks10 to be squeezed between the tubing 20 to assure that there are no gapsbetween them. When com pletely assembled, the mat becomes a'unitarystructure which a single person can easily assemble. The technique is asapplicable to the large size of mat used for free exercise, as it is tothe smaller size used for wrestling, or to any other mat used, forinstance, for judo or for physical training generally. Likewise, thetechnique may be easily adapted to mats of shapes other than square orrectangular.

Accordingly, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications can be made in the preferred embodiment described hereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is myinvention, however, that all such modifications will be included withinthe scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A free exercise or wrestling mat that provides a smooth, flatperforming surface, said mat comprising a plurality of flat, uniformlythick blocks of resilient material, said blocks being grouped togetherin side-by-side relationship to form the resilient base of said mat,said base having an exposed outer edge, a covering large enough toextend over the performing surface of the mat, rigid means abutting saidouter edge along substantially its entire length, and restraining meansadjustably secured to said covering at a plurality of opposite pointsthereof and engaging said rigid means at a corresponding plurality ofopposite locations thereon along the outer edge of said base so as todraw said rigid means inwardly thereby to press said blocks together andto draw said covering outwardly to stretch it over said blocks.

2. The mat of claim 1 in which said restraining means includes aplurality of strips of flexible material, the ends of each strip beingsecured to said covering at said opposite points thereof, and each strippassing around said rigid means at opposite edges of said base andbeneath said blocks.

3. The mat of claim 2 in which said blocks form a rectangular basehaving first and second edges substantially parallel to each other andnormal to third and fourth edges, and a plurality of said strips extendin spaced-apart parallel relationship between said first and secondedges and also between said third and fourth edges.

4. The mat of claim 3 in which each of the strips extending between saidfirst and second edges contains a plurality of slits spaced apart adistance to receive the strips extending between said third and fourthedges thereby to interlace said strips.

5. The mat of claim 1 in which said rigid means is a rigid tubularmember having an outside diameter no greater than the thickness of saidblocks.

1 6. A free exercise or wrestling mat of flat rectangular shape andhaving first and second edges substantially parallel to each other andnormal to third and fourth substantially parallel edges, said matcomprising a plurality of flat uniformly thick rectangular blocks ofresilient material, a plurality of flexible first strips arranged inspaced-apart substantially parallel relationship between and parallel tosaid first and second edges, a plurality of flexible second stripsarranged in spaced-apart substantially parallel relationship between andparallel to said third and fourth edges, said blocks being positioned ontop of all of said strips and in abutting relationship to one another soas to form said rectangular shape with the exposed edges of said blocksforming said first, second, third and fourth edges of the mat, a rigidmember positioned on top of the respective strips and abutting saidblocks along each of said first, second, third and fourth edges, saidmembers being of a height no greater than the thickness of said blocks,a covering extending over said blocks, a plurality of fastening means onsaid covering spaced therealong inwardly from said edges of said blocksto which respective one of said strips can be aflixed, said first stripsbeing wrapped around the rigid members positioned along said third andfourth edges and then secured to their respective ones of said fasteningmeans on said covering, and said second strips being wrapped around therigid members positioned along said first and second edges and thensecure to their respective ones of said fastening means on saidcovering.

7. The mat of claim 6 in which each of said first strips contains aplurality of spaced-apart slits, said slits be ing located so as toreceive said second strips therethrough whereby said first and secondstrips are interlaced.

8. The mat of claim 6 in whcih said covering extends beyond said rigidmembers on all four edges of said mat, said fastening means beinglocated on top of said covering when said covering is in place over saidblocks, said covering containing a plurality of slits, one such slitlocated outwardly from each of said fastening means, said strips beingpassed through respective ones of said slits before being secured to thefastening means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,276,361 8/1918 Hobert 5--3571,644,852 10/1927 Ness 5344 XR 3,380,088 4/1968 DAdesky 5-344 1 BOBBY R.GAY, Primary Examiner A. M. CALVERT, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R.182-l 39

